| TOTAL REWARD Fortune's Best 100 companies, 2002 American business magazine Fortune has just published its annual survey identifying the 100 companies that are great places to work in the USA. So, in a recession what makes a company fit for Fortune's list of 100 Best Companies to Work For? "One thing is its willingness, like Ernst & Young, to scramble to come up with creative ways to keep employees satisfied and to treat them with respect and dignity," write Robert Levering and Milton Moskowitz, the co-authors of the report. And the winner is . . . Stockbroker Edward Jones was this year’ s winner. It was hit hard by the gloomy stock market and responded by cutting back on bonuses. But none of its 25,000-strong workforce was shown the door. "We want to build the kind of relationship with workers that makes them willing to go the extra mile," says CEO John Bachmann. No sign of backlash against perks You might have imagined that some of the quirky perks that we have become accustomed to hearing about would face a bleak future as the US economy shifted into a lower gear. But Levering and Moskowitz found little evidence to support this view: "We were surprised to discover that few of the 100 Best nixed seemingly frilly perks — everything from free coffee to the limo and $500 check MBNA gives each employee on his or her wedding day. Why bother? Simple: No matter how rough the economy, retaining top talent is a huge issue. In fact losing people in key positions during downturns can be disastrous. So, if it makes a bit of difference, why bag the free cuppa joe?" Want to know more? Title: The 100 best companies to work for , by Robert Levering and Milton Moskowitz, Fortune, 4 February 2002. Methodology: A third of the scoring is based on a lengthy questionnaire filled out by participant companies and corporate documentation. But two-thirds of the scoring is based on a 57-question employee attitude survey — the Great place to work trust index . This year, 44,848 employees completed the questionnaire. Survey sample: 279 companies competed for a slot this year, up from 234 last time round. For more details jump to Fortune’ s web site . . .www.fortune.com Posted 14 March 2002
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